Distributing The Shoe That Grows in Ecuador

Ramiro fitting a pair of The Shoe That Grows on a child in Ecuador

Ever since Ramiro Davila moved to the United States from Ecuador at three years old, he’s felt a strong connection to his home country and has worked to maintain it through spending summers with his grandmother. Now, as a student at Cornell University, he maintains the bond through Ascending Latin-American Sustainability Initiative (A.L.A.S Initiative), a student-led social impact organization he founded that serves Ecuador and Latin American communities. 

How A.L.A.S Initiative works with The Shoe That Grows

According to a report released by World Bank, 25 percent of Ecuador’s population is impacted by poverty—affecting 4 million people. A.L.A.S Initiative works to alleviate poverty in Ecuador by reducing barriers to a sustainable quality of life—one of those barriers being a lack of access to quality, protective shoes. 

“I first became involved with The Shoe That Grows during my senior year of high school after fundraising to distribute 110 pairs of shoes in the rural village of La Travesia, Ecuador,” explained Ramiro. “Since then, I’ve made it a goal of mine to find similar innovative and impactful projects to share across my home country.”

Distributing pairs of shoes to Ecuadorian communities

In August of 2022, Ramiro and the students in A.L.A.S Initiative received $10,000 from the Davis Projects for Peace Award to distribute The Shoe That Grows across three rural Ecuadorian communities—Muisne, Atacames and Bahia de Caraquez. These communities were identified by A.L.A.S Initiative in partnership with two on-the-ground organizations, CAEMBA and Kawayan, due to the disproportionate levels of economic hardship, household instability and a large population of children. 

“Prior to the distribution, we saw that the great majority of children in all three communities wore homemade open-toed sandals that were largely in deteriorated conditions,” said Ramiro. 

Over the course of the day, Ramiro and his team distributed 300 pairs of shoes to children. His most memorable moment was at the end of the event. 

“A young girl came up behind me and proactively began to help distribute The Shoe to the remaining kids of the community,” recalled Ramiro. “Not only did this experience solidify the cause of our collective mission, it showed how an act of kindness and generosity can sometimes speak louder than words.” 

Since discovering The Shoe That Grows in 2019, Ramiro has distributed 410 pairs across Ecuador—with plans for more distributions at the end of 2022. 

How to support The Shoe That Grows

Learn more about bringing The Shoe That Grows to distribute in areas impacted by poverty—or if you’d like to support children year-round, consider joining The Sole. Whether you’re supporting dozens of children through an annual service trip or donating funds for one pair of shoes a month, you’re making a difference.